NJ MVC Update: More Changes Made As Sites Close Due To COVID

NEW JERSEY — More changes have come to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission now that the agency continues to deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Brenda Sue Fulton, the chief administrator of the Motor Vehicle Commission, said the agency has overhauled its technical infrastructure to help move the vast majority of transactions online.

"Not that things are rosy, now – far from it. Not when six to 12 agencies are closed due to staff quarantines on any given day," Fulton told the state Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on Thursday. "Hearing that we are doing 20 percent more transactions than before COVID is no consolation if it’s your appointment that was canceled."

The agency is also vaccinating its staff to help eliminate the repeated closures that have plagued the MVC.

Fulton says the agency is working hard to get all of its staff immunized after its vaccine, Johnson & Johnson, was temporarily paused because of concerns over blood-clotting. This past week, the program continued on "an expedited basis" with the Moderna vaccine.

"But until we complete the vaccination program, we will have canceled appointments, and that is an unacceptable burden on the public," Fulton said. "DOH and the Governor’s office continue to work closely with us and providers to accelerate this process.

"Once blanket quarantines can end, we will have significantly greater capacity and better service. Until then, we are not effectively serving our in-person customers," he said.

Beginning on Saturday, MVC also will begin allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's licenses. Read More: NJ Undocumented Immigrants Can Apply For Driver's Licenses Soon

The Department of Homeland Security also has delayed the New Jersey implementation of the REAL ID Act by 19 months due to the ongoing COVID pandemic. Read more: REAL ID Deadline Extended Again For NJ: Here's What This Means

Fulton also could be leaving her post soon now that she has been nominated by President Joe Biden as assistant secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. Read more: NJ MVC Chief, LGBT Activist Tapped By Biden Administration

Fulton said the past year "was extremely challenging for the whole state of New Jersey, and the Motor Vehicle Commission was no exception."

She also said her agency deserved a D or an F for its performance following the agency's reopening during the summer, saying the state should have done more to anticipate the backlogs and the staffing shortages.

Republican Sen. Anthony M. Bucco has introduced legislation to end the repeated Motor Vehicle Commission agency closures that he says have caused unnecessary disruption and inconvenience to New Jersey drivers.

Under current operating procedures, an MVC agency closes for up to 14 days when a single employee has COVID-19, he said.

Bucco’s new legislation directs the chief administrator of the MVC to take all measures necessary to prevent the temporary closure of a commission agency due to the coronavirus and ensure that the commission and its agencies continue to provide services to customers.

If the temporary closure of an agency is necessary, the bill requires reasonable alternatives, including mobile units, to be provided to customers at that agency location.

“Every day we hear of another MVC agency that’s closing for two weeks because a single worker has COVID,” said Bucco, R-Morris. “Nobody else operates like that. Your grocery store doesn’t close for days or weeks every time a cashier tests positive. They sanitize, test, and get back to work safely without missing a beat. There simply is no good excuse for the repeated disruption of service at our MVC agencies.”

Here are other steps, meanwhile, the MVC has taken:

• All transactions were shifted to online or by-appointment-only except new permits, visa-restricted license and customers who allowed their licenses to lapse more than six months. The MVC started appointments for new permits in February.
• The MVC has continued to give people the ability to renew licenses online, particularly those who have licenses that are more than 6 months expired and those with probationary licenses.
• Appointment demand continues to stubbornly exceed capacity since customers persist in making appointments instead of doing their transactions online. A fix is in the works to ensure more transactions are being conducted online.
• Over the past six weeks, the agency has experienced a regular cyclical surge in demand based on the 4-year renewal cycle. Fulton said the agency has risen to the demand, averaging more than 240,000 transactions per week.
• The MVC continues to try to educate the public to go against "years of habit" and do their transactions online.
• The MVC more than tripled the transactions that can be done online, from 25 to more than 80 percent.

Fulton said that, when the agency reopened last summer, "everyone showed up at once."

"We always knew we couldn’t do 1/3 of an entire year’s work in one week, or one month – but we made a number of changes during those four months to ease the burden," she said.

Those changes also included:

• Adding a text notification system in the agencies; and
• Re-fitting all agencies as either Licensing Centers or Vehicle Centers to allow for proper social distancing and more efficient queuing.

Fulton said the agency continues to innovate and constantly update online services and provide alternative ways to process transactions.

Fulton noted that the agency set out to clear the backlog, and institute appointments, by transaction.

Here's what else you should know:

Current closures

Closures continue to plague New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission centers but not all are for coronavirus exposure.

This past Wednesday, Newark Regional/Licensing Center closed early for employee vaccinations. Jersey City Vehicle Center and the Flemington Licensing Center also closed earlier this month for staff vaccinations.

Although the MVC is working on vaccinating employees many centers continue to close for COVID-19 exposure.

Most recently, Newark Regional/Licensing Center closed due to an employee testing positive for COVID-19, and will reopen Thursday, May 13. The employee who tested positive was last in the agency on Wednesday.

The following MVC Centers were set to reopen on the following days after a full COVID-19 cleaning and the completion of staff quarantine. They had to close because an employee tested positive for COVID-19 at each location, and they're scheduled to reopen on these dates:

• Delanco Licensing Center - Thursday
• Bayonne Licensing Center -Thursday
• Cherry Hill Vehicle Center - Friday
• Toms River Licensing Center - Monday
• Salem Licensing Center - Friday, May 7
• Cardiff Licensing Center - Friday, May 7
• Newark Regional/Licensing Center - Thursday, May 13

Immigration status

The MVC will accept applications beginning on Saturday for standard driver's licenses and non-driver identification cards from people without federal immigration status.

The expanded license policy will affect nearly 750,000 people, including more than 400,000 undocumented residents in the Garden State, according to the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice (NJAIJ).

Gender "X"

The MVC recently added a gender "X" option on state driver licenses and non-driver identification cards. Read More: NJ MVC Adds Gender 'X' Option For Licenses, ID Cards

Online Transactions

The MVC has "been making continual refinements to the MVC appointment system, adding a new feature recently to show the total available appointments statewide for each type of transaction," said MVC Spokesman William Connolly.

The MVC’s transactions are completed online at NJMVC.gov.

"We have achieved this by aggressively moving as many transactions online as possible for customer convenience and to reduce the number of people who need to go to an agency for service," said Connolly.

Appointments are widely available for nearly all transactions. But many customers are still scheduling appointments for transactions that can be completed online, especially license renewals, which takes away appointments from those who must visit in person.

"While we are working on a software resolution to prevent this from happening, MVC customers should always check the website first to see if they can conduct their transaction online before making an appointment," said Connolly.

In-Person Transactions

If you cannot conduct your transaction online and must visit an agency, nearly all in-person transactions are now by appointment. Vehicle Centers have been operating on an appointment-only basis since last fall, and they are down to a handful of walk-in and appointment-only transactions at Licensing Centers.

At Vehicle Centers, appointments for vehicle transactions are available across the state.

Licensing Centers

"At Licensing Centers, we anticipate very high demand for new permit appointments because the number of eligible customers for new driver licenses and IDs will increase significantly when we start offering appointments for licenses regardless of immigration status beginning May 1," said Connolly.

There will be an early rush for new permit appointments. While the MVC is adding new permit appointments, there will be some initial delays in scheduling permit appointments due to the number of increased applications. However, Connolly said the delay will not impact any other appointments.

After May 1, all those seeking new licenses will still have to complete the state’s Graduated Driver License Program, and will only receive a license if they meet eligibility requirements – this includes proving identity (using 6 Points of ID) and proof of NJ residence, before passing the required knowledge and road tests.

For more information, the MVC added resources on its website – including FAQs and video guides – to make the process easier to understand in both English and Spanish.

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